Thanks to Krishen-ji for alerting me to this interview of Bill Warner, Director, Center for the Study of Political Islam (CSPI). CSPI is devoted to the scientific study of the foundational texts of Islam, including the Koran and Hadith.
Its approach is unusual in that it relies on statistics to study the doctrines (e.g. see the discussion about “Jihad” below) and considers the Koran alongside the Sira and Hadiths as part of the Islamic Trilogy. Although published more than a year ago, large parts of it are still very relevant.
Excerpts:
…Our major intellectual breakthrough is to see that dualism is the foundation and key to understanding Islam.
…Endless ink has been wasted on trying to answer the question of what is Islam? Is Islam the religion of peace? Or is the true Islam a radical ideology? Is a moderate Muslim the real Muslim?
This reminds a scientist of the old arguments about light. Is light a particle or is light a wave? The arguments went back and forth. Quantum mechanics gave us the answer. Light is dualistic; it is both a particle and a wave. It depends upon the circumstances as to which quality manifests. Islam functions in the same manner.
Our first clue about the dualism is in the Koran, which is actually two books, the Koran of Mecca (early) and the Koran of Medina (later). The insight into the logic of the Koran comes from the large numbers of contradictions in it. On the surface, Islam resolves these contradictions by resorting to “abrogation”. This means that the verse written later supersedes the earlier verse. But in fact, since the Koran is considered by Muslims to be the perfect word of Allah, both verses are sacred and true. The later verse is “better,” but the earlier verse cannot be wrong since Allah is perfect. This is the foundation of dualism. Both verses are “right.” Both sides of the contradiction are true in dualistic logic. The circumstances govern which verse is used.
For example:
(Koran of Mecca) 73:10: Listen to what they [unbelievers] say with patience, and leave them with dignity.
From tolerance we move to the ultimate intolerance, not even the Lord of the Universe can stand the unbelievers:
(Koran of Medina) 8:12: Then your Lord spoke to His angels and said, “I will be with you. Give strength to the believers. I will send terror into the unbelievers’ hearts, cut off their heads and even the tips of their fingers!”
All of Western logic is based upon the law of contradiction—if two things contradict, then at least one of them is false. But Islamic logic is dualistic; two things can contradict each other and both are true.
No dualistic system may be measured by one answer. This is the reason that the arguments about what constitutes the “real” Islam go on and on and are never resolved. A single right answer does not exist.
Dualistic systems can only be measured by statistics. It is futile to argue one side of the dualism is true. As an analogy, quantum mechanics always gives a statistical answer to all questions.
For an example of using statistics, look at the question: what is the real jihad, the jihad of inner, spiritual struggle or the jihad of war? Let’s turn to Bukhari (the Hadith) for the answer, as he repeatedly speaks of jihad. In Bukhari 97% of the jihad references are about war and 3% are about the inner struggle. So the statistical answer is that jihad is 97% war and 3% inner struggle. Is jihad war? Yes—97%. Is jihad inner struggle? Yes—3%. So if you are writing an article, you can make a case for either. But in truth, almost every argument about Islam can be answered by: all of the above. Both sides of the duality are right.
Keep Reading…
August 20th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Current Affairs, Impact of Islam on India, Islam & Reform, Islam & Terrorism, Medieval Indian History |
4 comments
Great article by Tarun Vijay in today’s TOI: Reclaiming India.
*** Excerpts below (emphasis mine) ***
“None should say Omar is not allowed in Jammu. Let him come, listen and speak. Like any other Indian should feel free to visit Kashmir or any other part of the nation. He is welcome to visit my home even if he denies me a piece of land in Kashmir. Why should a few words uttered by him make me change my Indian-ness? If he spoke in Parliament as a Muslim, asserting his Islamic identity, let denial of land to Hindus be his Islam and my Hinduness must keep my nation as a free democracy where difference of opinion is a natural phenomenon unlike Islamic countries.
…But he must stop to think why he can own a bungalow in Delhi or Bangalore and at the same time deny that privilege to a fellow Indian in Kashmir? Kashmiri Muslim leaders would like to enjoy the fruits and liberties of a Hindu majority democracy but vehemently deny that to Hindus in their area of influence. Why?
When they are in a minority they crave and get special privileges. But once a majority, every single right to be at par is refused to other minorities.
…Kashmir is predominantly Sunni and Wahabi. Hence the intolerance that denies even the basic features of Kashmiriyat.
And see what the de-Indianised intellectuals wrote on the front pages in Delhi’s newspapers: “All over a piece of land!” Really?
Then why are the Indian soldiers defending a barren piece of dead snow in Siachen? Or what’s that piece of cloth known as the Tricolor? Is it worth dying for?
…In fact the whole movement is a revolt of Tricolour people against unpatriotic politics on Kashmir. It’s an effort to reclaim India in a region where the central leaders and regional parties have abandoned the idea of pan-Indian nationalism and geographical integration. India has been reducing every day in the valley and the seculars keep on counting their votes and encouraging separatists at the cost of an Indian identity.
Keep Reading…
August 6th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
A Hindu Identity, An Indian Identity, Current Affairs, Human Rights and Legal Issues, Impact of Islam on India, Jammu & Kashmir related, Medieval Indian History, Politics and Governance in India, Politics of Minority Appeasement |
8 comments
To those of us whose image of “Samraat” Ashoka (Ashoka the Great) has been shaped by Amar Chitra Katha�or the eponymous movie, it will come as a suprise that there may actually have been three different Kings by the name of Ashok and the real history of the “Ashok the Great” may be more complex than hitherto imagined.
I am reproducing below some excerpts from some early but ground-breaking research by Kishore Patnaik which he shared on a Yahoo! group recently…It makes for fascinating�reading (emphasis mine).
*** Excerpts BEGIN - Long Post ***
…it may be too premature for me to say…(but it appears that) there are three Asokas in the history whose identity has to be established:
1. The Mauryan king Asoka vardhana, as described in Puranas. I am not sure if anything was told about Asoka vardhana by puranas, even though he has ruled the longest in his dynasty
2. The Bauddhist king Asoka(Tissa?) as described in the various Buddhist and Jain works. Clearly, they try to mostly identify Asoka with with Asoka Vardhana but it is possible that the writers are confused since these works were composed centuries after Asoka
3. Priyadarsi, the king of edicts who was supposed to be dear to the gods and of course, just once he calls himself Asoka (in the edict of Maski)
…In any case, we see that all the three kings differ in their nature and dating. Keep Reading…
July 23rd, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Ancient Indian History, Medieval Indian History |
no comments
From the original post by Dr Andrew Bostom, “End the Moral Idiocy on Kashmir”
*** EXCERPTS BEGIN ***
I participated in a forum on Kashmir last night at MIT in Boston, as this Muslim supremacist, jihad-inspired conflictreally a tragic ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Hindus by Muslim jihadists which began in earnest during the 14th centuryre-emerged in the news recently when the Indian government had the temerity to want to transfer 99 acres of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board…
…Please watch the video linked below, which chronicles in gory detail the brutal ethnic cleansing of some 350,000 indigenous Hindus from Kashmir during early 1990, orchestrated by Pakistan and its moderate Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto.
I was privileged last night to meet the astute, courageous, and passionate filmmaker, Ashok Pandit, who produced this documentary, And the World Remained Silent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCRFWStxV_4 (Part 1)
Focus on the time period 2:15 to 4:00 minutes, from part 1 above, and witness the jihadist speech of the late, much ballyhooed modernist reformer Benazir Bhutto. She was a jihadist, plain and simple; the head of what remains a jihadist state, our ally Pakistan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2vsztUdkpU&feature=related (Part 2)
Here is the text of the comments I delivered last night for historical background:
Islamic Separatism & Kashmir: A Panel Discussion Exploring the Relationship Between Religion and Kashmiri Tangle, July 9, 2008,
During mid-November, 2007, a grim milestone was recorded in the macabre tally being kept assiduously in cyberspace by blogger Glen Reinsford: the 10,000th attack by jihad terrorists resulting in some 60,000 dead and 90,000 injured since the cataclysmic acts of jihad terrorism on September 11, 2001.
Reinsford does not include combat-related statistics…His tally also excludes the genocide in Darfur committed by the Islamic government in Sudan…whose murderous ravages the UN estimated last year had resulted in some 400,000 dead, and 2 million displaced.
Reinsford identified three episodes of such continuous, mind numbing jihadist carnage which had perhaps unsettled him most: Nadimarg, Kashmir India (3/23/03), dozens of Hindu villagers roused out of their beds and machine-gunned by Lashkar-e-Toiba; Beslan, Russia (9/3/04), some 350 people slaughtered by jihadistshalf of them children; Malatya, Turkey (4/18/07), three Christian Bible distributors bound, tortured for hours, then gruesomely murdered by men who acted explicitly in the name of Islam.
These data should remind us that there is just one historically relevant meaning of jihad despite contemporary apologetics. Jahada, the root of the word Jihad, appears 40 times in the Koranunder a variety of grammatical forms. With 4 exceptions, all the other 36 usages (in specific Koranic verses) are variations of the third form of the verb, i.e. Jahida. Jahida in the Koran and in subsequent Islamic understanding to both Muslim luminariesfrom the greatest jurists and scholars of classical Islam (including Abu Yusuf, Averroes, Ibn Khaldun, and Al Ghazzali), to ordinary peoplemeant and means he fought, warred or waged war against unbelievers and the like, as described by the seminal Arabic lexicographer E.W Lane. Indeed, Lanes, An Arabic English Lexicon (6 volumes, London, 1865) is still used to this day by Muslim and non-Muslim scholars for definitive Arabic to English translation. Thus Lane, who studied both the etymology and usage of the term jihad, observed, Jihad came to be used by the Muslims to signify wag[ing] war, against unbelievers.
Keep Reading…
July 12th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Conversions, Missionaries in India, Hindu Dharma, Identity, Impact of Islam on India, India & Its Neighbours, Islamic Rule in India, Jammu & Kashmir related, Medieval Indian History, Modern Indian History, Pakistan related |
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Great piece of reporting from The Hindu on an extraordinary archeological find from Tamil Nadu about politics and governance in ancient India.
*** Excerpts ***
It may be hard to believe that nearly 1,100 years ago, a village had a perfect electoral system and a written Constitution prescribing the mode of elections. It was inscribed on the walls of the village assembly (grama sabha mandapa)…This inscription, dated around 920 A.D. in the reign of Parantaka Chola, is an outstanding document in the history of India, says Dr. R. Nagaswamy, former Director, Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology, referring to Uthiramerur in Chingleput district.
Dr. Nagaswamy says in his book, Uthiramerur, the Historic Village in Tamil Nadu”:
It [the inscription] gives astonishing details about the constitution of wards, the qualification of candidates standing for elections, the disqualification norms, the mode of election, the constitution of committees with elected members, the functions of [those] committees, the power to remove the wrong-doer, etc
The villagers even had the right to recall the elected representatives if they failed in their duty!*
Uthiramerur has a 1,250-year history. It is situated in Kanchipuram district, about 90 km from Chennai. The Pallava king Nandivarman II established it around 750 A.D.
R. Vasanthakalyani, Chief Epigraphist-cum-Instructor (Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology) said:
About 1,100 years ago, during the period of Paranataka Chola, Uthiramerur had an elected village panchayat system, which was a step ahead of the modern day democratic system…
The Tamil inscriptions elaborate on the election procedure followed several centuries ago.
There were committees for the maintenance of irrigation tanks, roads, to provide relief during drought, testing of gold and so on.
Dr. Nagaswamy says: The village assembly of Uttaramerur drafted the Constitution for the elections. The salient features were as follows: the village was divided into 30 wards, one representative elected for each. Specific qualifications were prescribed for those who wanted to contest. The essential criteria were age limit, possession of immovable property and minimum educational qualification. Those who wanted to be elected should be above 35 years of age and below 70
Read the full story here. As Capt. Pullat remarked on the FTIdiscussion board: “Beats Magna Carta, isn’t it?”!
Related Posts:
Corruption - as mentioned in the Vedas
Democracy in AncientIndia
* Un-electing our leaders - Chhattisgarh shows the way
P.S. Have other readers (also) detected a subtle change in stance in The Hindu’s style of reporting? ORam I reading too much into LK Advani’s interview and recent Op-Eds? I should check outwhat the folks over at The Chindu think!
July 12th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Ancient Hindu Political Philosophy, Ancient Indian History, Hindu Dharma, Medieval Indian History, Politics and Governance in India |
no comments
I recently came across The Whitewashing of History, by Nithin Sridhar. Nitin has kindly agreed to let me reproduce the article on this blog. Those of you who are interested in history will find here a devastating critique of current studies and interpretation of Indian History - which has largely been driven by leftist-leaning scholars steeped in their prejudices and with varying agendas.
The article looks at the now thoroughly discredited “Aryan Invasion Theory” (AIT), the impact of Islamic invasions on India and the red-herring of “Hindu vandalism”.
I have also included a selection of comments at the end.
*** ARTICLE BEGINS / LONG POST ***
The history of India has been whitewashed and distorted, first by European rulers, and after independence by eminent historians of India and their supporters the Leftists, Seculars and self-claimed Progressives of India to meet their own ends. They have painted the pre-Islamic invasion period as a Dark Age and have glorified the Islamic period to be very peaceful and prosperous.
Ram Swarup says, Marxists have taken to rewriting Indian history on a large scale and it has meant its systematic falsification. They have a dogmatic view of history and for them the use of any history is to prove their dogma. Their very approach is hurtful to truth. The Marxists contempt for India, particularly the India of religion, culture and philosophy, is deep and theoretically fortified. It exceeds the contempt ever shown by the most die-hard imperialists.1 Some of the common claims of these eminent historians are:
1] The Aryan Invasion Theory is true2
2] Large scale destruction of Buddhists and Jain temples was done by Hindus in pre-Islamic India.3
3] The Muslim rulers were religiously tolerant and Islamic rule was prosperous. The eminent historians deny the destruction of Hindu temples or the killing of Hindus at the hands of Muslim rulers. They also deny the religious motive behind the killing of Hindus at the hands of Muslim rulers.4
Let us examine the Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT).
Keep Reading…
May 18th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Ancient Indian History, Conversions, Missionaries in India, Debates & Discussions, Distortions, Misrepresentation about Hinduism, Distortions, Misrepresentations about India, Impact of Islam on India, Islamic Rule in India, Media Related, Medieval Indian History, Politics and Governance in India, Politics of Minority Appeasement, Saraswati-Sindhu Civilization |
20 comments
A well-wisheralerted me to thisstatement made bysenior advocate Shri K Parasaranin the Supreme Courtlast week:
“Government should avoid causing any damage to the “Ram Setu” as it might leave a permanent scar in the minds of people like the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya….“
I am amazed…
Notice the multiple levels of mixing up, confusion and juxtapositioning that is going on here…
The matter of of Rama Sethu has somehow been clubbed with Babri Masjid, juxtaposing the demolition of Babri Masjid that happended WITHOUT any government or official sanction withthe destruction of Ram Sethu which is being forced with the full blessings of powers that be…
In the process, we have the extraordinary spectacle of Lord Shri Ram, a revered figure to millions being “bracketed” with Babar, a foreign invader.
What worries me most about this statement though is its implication(s) for the Janmabhoomi movement…
Any thoughts? I am keen to hear responses.
Finally, a question to get you thinking: regardless of whether the Rama Sethu is man-made or is a natural formation, can it really be equated with Babri Masjid which was a structuredeliberately constructed to humiliate a population that had been subjugated?
As someone wrote to me in an email, “…with “friends” like Sh. Parasaran, who needs enemies?” !
P.S. In case any of you is tempted to ask: my position on the demolition of Babri Masjid is that it was wrong, unfortunate and should not have happened.
Related Posts:
Voices of caution onSethuSamudram
The search for a historicalRama
Summary of the Historical Question - RamJanmabhoomi
A suggested stance on Kashi &Mathura
May 10th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Ancient Indian History, Current Affairs, Debates & Discussions, Impact of Islam on India, Islamic Rule in India, Medieval Indian History, Politics and Governance in India, Ram Janambhoomi, Ayodhya |
4 comments
Many of you mayhavecome across this information about “Ancient Indian Scientists” before. I received it in a chain email but I shall be most grateful if any reader(s) have links or references to the original source(s).
There are many assertions and statements herethat have not been verified or explained (see e.g. the entry on Acharya Bharadwaj who is credited with advances in aviation technology*). We need to source and evidencethese it to make it more credible.
Some excerpts below (statements on which I need help are marked in italics):
***
ARYABHATT (476 CE), ASTRONOMER and MATHEMATICIAN
Born in 476 CE in Kusumpur (Bihar), Aryabhatt’s intellectual brilliance remapped the boundaries of mathematics and astronomy. In 499 CE, at the age of 23, he wrote a text on astronomy and an unparallel treatise on mathematics called “Aryabhatiyam.” He formulated the process of calculating the motion of planets and the time of eclipses. Aryabhatt was the first to proclaim that the earth is round, it rotates on its axis, orbits the sun and is suspended in space - 1000 years before Copernicus published his heliocentric theory. He is also acknowledged for calculating p (Pi) to four decimal places: 3.1416 and the sine table in trigonometry. Centuries later, in 825 CE, the Arab mathematician, Mohammed Ibna Musa credited the value of Pi to the Indians… And above all, his most spectacular contribution was the concept of zero (- need help in clarifying/verifying this)
***
BHASKARACHARYA II(1114-1183 CE), ALGEBRA
Born in the obscure village of Vijjadit (Jalgaon) in Maharastra, Bhaskaracharya’s work in Algebra, Arithmetic and Geometry catapulted him to fame and immortality. His renowned mathematical works called “Lilavati” and “Bijaganita” are considered to be unparalled and a memorial to his profound intelligence. Its translation in several languages of the world bear testimony to its eminence. In his treatise “Siddhant Shiromani” he writes on planetary positions, eclipses, cosmography, mathematical techniques and astronomical equipment. In the “Surya Siddhant” he makes a note on the force of gravity: “Objects fall on earth due to a force of attraction by the earth. Therefore, the earth, planets, constellations, moon, and sun are held in orbit due to this attraction.” Bhaskaracharya was the first to discover gravity, 500 years before Sir Isaac Newton.
Keep Reading…
April 28th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Ancient Indian History, Indian Medicine & Ayurveda, Indian Science and Mathematics, Medieval Indian History, Miscellaneous, Science & Mathematics in Ancient India, Spirituality & Philosophy, Technology in India |
4 comments
A few days ago, I came across this statement by TMMK leader M.H. Jawahirulla. He said:
One of the greatest charges against Aurangzeb is of the demolition of Vishwanath Temple in Banaras (Varanasi). That was a factBut late historian Bishma Narain Pandes research efforts exploded many myths about Aurangzebs rule. He explained why Aurangzeb razed the temple at Varanasi, TMMK leader M.H. Jawahirulla, who is a university professor himelf, told IANS.
He razed the temple because the Maharani of Kutch, the wife of one of the Hindu Rajput kings loyal to Aurangzeb, was dishonoured and robbed inside the temple.
Now, the history freak that I am, the immediate thought that came to mind was:Where did the late Shri B N Pande find the evidence for this story?
For this Ihad to delve deeper.
That is when I came across, “Why did Aurangzeb Demolish the Kashi Vishwanath” by Koenraad Elst. And that is where I found the answer to my question…
Keep Reading…
April 5th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Debates & Discussions, Distortions, Misrepresentation about Hinduism, Distortions, Misrepresentations about India, Indian Media, Islamic Rule in India, Medieval Indian History, Politics and Governance in India |
42 comments
This is a sad story of what happened to a meetingarranged with a sense of purpose and responsibility by Vigil in Chennai to discuss Gautier’s exhibition and the administration’s response to it.
Against the backdrop of the cancelled exhibition, Vigil had invited Dr Subramaniam Swamy and Shri C P Radhakrishnan (National Executive Member of the BJP) to speak on the “Politics of History and Minorityism“.
They both agreed to come and Vigil spent a significant amount of money and effort in spreading word of the event (see ad below).
At 1230 on the day of the meeting, Radha-ji of Vigil got a call from Dr Swamy who conveyed his inability to come as he had to go for some *urgent* work to Delhi.
Shri Radhakrishnan excused himself saying he was not feeling well.
Keep Reading…
March 15th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Distortions, Misrepresentations about India, History, Impact of Islam on India, Islamic Rule in India, Media Related, Medieval Indian History, Politics and Governance in India, Politics of Minority Appeasement |
6 comments
Some of you may have already read this.
Francois Gautier’s exhibition on Aurangzeb, based on historical documents and paintings, has been forcibly shut down by authorities in Chennai (after successfully exhibiting in Delhi, Puneand Bengaluru).
“…An art show at the prestigious Lalit Kala Akademi (LKA) here curated by journalist Francois Gautier was at the receiving end of moral policing when an exhibition on Mughal emperor Aurangzeb was shut down.Stating that it had received three complaints that the show would disturb communal harmony, police Thursday night burst into the exhibition, shut it down forcibly, took into custody three women associated with the hosting of the exhibition and seized some of the works on display.The exhibition of 40 paintings, including exceptional miniatures by noted Indian artists, gathered together by Gautiers Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism (FACT) were on show at the LKA from March 3.
The show included farhans (edicts issued by Aurangzeb) from the Bikaner museum and other material on Aurangzeb. It also contained two pictures depicting Aurangzebs army destroying the Somnath temple in Gujarat and the Kesava Rai temple in Mathura.” [news-report]
Anotherreport mentions that the show was cancelled following some objections but does not mention that three ladies were arrested (It cryptically refers to four people).
Overall the Indian media and intellegentsia has been conspicuous by their silence on the matter.
Will Ms Arundhati Roy, esteemed Shabana Azmi and allother champions of free speech please stand up and defend the right of Francois Gautier to continue with this exhibition?
This report claims that the exhibition was cancelled
“…in the wake of some Muslim outfits and Hindu organisations failing to see eye to eye on some of the portraits on display.
Trouble started when some Muslim organisations and Prince of Arcot Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali took up cudgels against some portraits, claiming it would disturb peace in the state and demanded the expo ‘Aurangzeb as he was according to Mughal records’ be cancelled.”
For those ofyouwho may not be familiar with FACT, here is some more informationand here is Francois Gautier himself, explaining what it is all about: “The truth about Aurangzeb“. Excerpts:
“….Why an exhibition on Aurangzeb, some may ask.
Firstly, I have been a close student of Indian history, and one of its most controversial figures has been Aurangzeb (1658-1707). It is true that under him the Mughal empire reached its zenith, but Aurangzeb was also a very cruel ruler ? some might even say monstrous.
What are the facts? Aurangzeb did not just build an isolated mosque on a destroyed temple, he ordered all temples destroyed, among them the Kashi Vishwanath temple, one of the most sacred places of Hinduism, and had mosques built on a number of cleared temple sites.
Other Hindu sacred places within his reach equally suffered destruction, with mosques built on them. A few examples: Krishna’s birth temple in Mathura; the rebuilt Somnath temple on the coast of Gujarat; the Vishnu temple replaced with the Alamgir mosque now overlooking Benares; and the Treta-ka-Thakur temple in Ayodhya.
The number of temples destroyed by Aurangzeb is counted in four, if not five figures.
Keep Reading…
March 8th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Conversions, Missionaries in India, Distortions, Misrepresentation about Hinduism, Distortions, Misrepresentations about India, Indian Media, Islamic Rule in India, Medieval Indian History, Politics of Minority Appeasement |
21 comments
I came across this article a few days back. Although slightly dated, the points made by Shri Shourie re. the shocking state of affairs at the Indian Council of Historical Research are still valid. The sagais shocking, shameful and disgusting beyond belief.
Excerpts fromICHR’s The Eminent Entrepreneurs!by Arun Shourie (emphasis mine)
“…Answer by the Ministry for Human Resources Development to Unstarred Question number 3466 in the Rajya Sabha:
“Professor Bipin Chandra was sanctioned a sum of Rs 75000 during 1987-88 for the assignment entitled ‘A History of Indian National Congress’. A sum of Rs 57500 has been released to him till 23-6-1989. The remaining balance of Rs 17500 is yet to be released because a formal manuscript in this regard is yet to be received.”
I, therefore, wrote to the Ministry:
“Does this mean that some informal manuscript has been received ? Or that no manuscript has been received ? If the latter is the case, how is it that nine years having passed, the scholar having taken Rs 57500 for a project and not having submitted the manuscript, no action has been taken ?”
After some reminders, the Ministry eventually wrote to say:
“… it has been confirmed by ICHR that no manuscript — either formally or informally — has been received so far.”
As regards the action taken, the Ministry said, information was being obtained from the ICHR.
I am now informed in writing that the Rs 75000 allotted to this “eminent historian” for this project — “the Oral History Project” — was but a part, a small part of the total take. Bipin Chandra was given in addition Rs 200,000 by the ICSSR and Rs 400,000 through the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Neither institution has received any manuscript.
…
As nothing but nothing has turned up in the ICHR in return for its grant, the second part of my query remained : what action has the ICHR taken in the matter? I am now told, “No action has been initiated on this as Dr. Bipin Chandra is stated to be still working on the project.” That is the position nine years after his eminence collected the money!
…it turns out that this is the pattern.
The ICHR commenced a National Movement Project — to which I shall come in a moment — to document our freedom struggle from the mid-1850’s.
Bipin Chandra took Rs 12000 to produce the volume covering 1885-86. Result? Nothing has been heard of it since. He took another Rs 12000 for the volume covering 1932-34. Outcome? “Not submitted,” says the ICHR. Being eminent, Bipin Chandra is naturally in the circle of friends among whom the “Towards Freedom Project” was parceled. To assist him to shoulder his onerous load in this regard, the ICHR has employed over the years one “regular” staff member plus eight staff members “on consolidated salary”. Result ? “Volume not submitted.”
But, to be fair, this pattern is not confined to this eminent historian alone. It has been the pattern for the entire institution manned and controlled by these “eminent historians.”
…Therefore, after some inquiries with, as journalists say, “informed sources,” I asked,
“But what about the project for documenting the National Freedom Movement from 1857 to 1936? How many volumes were to be produced under it? To whom was each volume assigned? How much was paid to each scholar? How much has been spent on each volume? How many volumes have been produced under this project ?”
The Ministry replied,
“… the Indian Council of Historical Research have stated that no project was commissioned by them to document National Movement between 1857 and 1937.”
What a foolish evasion ! All I had to do was to draw the attention of the Ministry to successive annual reports of the ICHR which had been presented to Parliament over two decades : report after report had listed this as one of the major projects which the ICHR had initiated! Please look at the account commencing from page 26 of the Annual Report for 1972-1973, I wrote; please look at the account commencing from page 16 of the Annual Report for 1973-1974, I wrote…
The result ? I am now informed that such a project had indeed been undertaken. Nineteen volumes were to have been produced. The volumes were assigned to different scholars — our eminencies as usual led the rest ! Each scholar collected Rs. 12000 per volume he had been assigned.
…
(The status of those nineteen volumes makes for depressing reading. Of the 19 volumes, only five had been submitted; 11 of these had been paid for but nothing had been submitted and three were not assigned at all! - Note by Shantanu)
…remember that they were paid out in the mid-1970s, when they amounted to much, much more than they do in these days of scams..
And what about the project to document the Praja Mandal Movement, the freedom movement in the princely states ?, I inquired. …
The ICHR…furnished the details…the Project was assigned to one of the key-point men of the “eminent historians” in the Council, R. C. Shukla. Staff was assigned. Materials are reported to have been collected between 1976 and 1982. A sum of Rs 435,000 was spent. The net outcome ? “No publication has come out on PMM [the Praja Mandal Movements], to the best knowledge of the Council,”
What about the project which was undertaken to document “Peasants Movements” ?, I inquired.
Fourteen volumes were to be produced, the ICHR says. Six of these were assigned among three scholars at Rs 12000 per volume. One of these has been published. Two are listed as “Not Submitted.” And three as “Submitted but not traceable.”
What about the “Economic Data and Statistics Project,” which was listed with such fan-fare in the Annual Reports till some years ago ?, I asked.
Six volumes were to be produced under it, the ICHR says…as against the six volumes which were to have been published, not one has been published.
…the “Project on Documentation on Economic History.” What about this one ?, I asked.
The project was commenced in 1992, says the ICHR. Seventeen volumes were to be produced between 1992 and 1997. The total cost was to be Rs 25 lakhs. As of today, says the ICHR, no volume has been published. And a cool Rs 195,000 have already been spent.
What about the “Medieval Sources Project” ?, I asked.
After some search, the ICHR has supplied the following list of the scholars to whom the work was assigned, the subject he was to cover, the money sanctioned to each, and the result :
1. Satish Chandra & Co. : Hindi translation of “Early Sources of Akbar’s Reign”; Not completed, money not indicated.
2. Irfan Habib : Akbarat-e-Aurangzeb : Rs 27000; Not completed.
3. Moonis Raza : “Atlas of the Mughal Empire” : Rs 22400; Not completed.
4. Anis Faruqi : Tashir-ul-Aqwani : Rs 9000; Not completed.
5. Satish Chandra : Documents on Social and Economic History : Rs 23000; Not completed.
6. P. Saran : Tarikh-i-Akbari : Rs 18500; Submitted but not traceable
…
and so it goes on and on.
The article is a fine example of thorough “digging” and a diligentlyconducted inquiry. What is very worrying as one reads through, ishow an institution - that should primarily be focusingon serious historical research -becamepart of a political agenda and a tool for promoting ideological bias…
Sad and disgusting. If you ever wondered why I deeply distrust the “history” we have been taught, now you know.
Related Posts: Lies and half-truths in the name of nationalintegrationand
somewhat more controversial: Taj Mahal: The Biggest Whitewash in IndianHistory?
.
March 6th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Distortions, Misrepresentations about India, History, Medieval Indian History, Modern Indian History, Politics and Governance in India |
no comments
I recently stumbled on this news-item about the development of a new type of corrosion-resistant iron by Prof Balasubramaniam and one of his colleagues at IIT, Kanpur (emphasis mine):
…Indian metallurgists have developed a type of corrosion-resistant iron that construction engineers would love. And vital clues for it came for Delhi’s famous Iron Pillar that has been standing tall for over 1,600 years.
Developed by Ramamurthy Balasubramaniam and his former student Gadadhar Sahoo of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Kanpur, the iron contains phosphorus and shows remarkable resistance to corrosion, especially in concrete.
…
Ironically, Bala’s material is not new. It was being made by Indian ironsmiths centuries ago. Bala says he got the clue for developing this material from the six-tonne seven-metre tall Delhi Iron Pillar - a major tourist attraction in the Qutb Minar complex — that has been standing for centuries in the harsh weather of the capital without any corrosion.
“As a metallurgist, I was intrigued,” Bala told IANS. And his passionate quest to unravel the mystery that began in 1990s has now culminated in phosphoric irons.
…(commendably) All the work, he said, was done with institute funds without any external support.
Most of you of course knowabout the Iron Pillar but I was not aware that it was originally located at Udayagiri (roughly translated as “sunrise peak”)near Vidisha where it was part of a complex of temples and buildings.
At the Udayagiri site, the pillar almost certainly served an important astronomical function.The Udaygiri complex itselfoffersclear evidence of advanced knowledge and understanding of astronomy in ancient India - a knowledge that survived at least until the early centuries of the millenium (~400 A.D.).
Incidentally, the pillar appears to befurther proof of the distortion of history in the dash to appear “secular” or “modern”.
So even thoughit is widely acknowledgedthat the pillar was constructed and erected during the reign of Chandragupta II Vikramaditya (375-413), instead of being called the Chandragupta (or Vikramaditya) Pillar, it is commonly referred to as the “Iron Pillar” or the”Mehrauli Pillar”*.
Isn’t this exactly how an entire generation “forgets” its history? I wonder.
Related Posts:
Lies and half-truths in the name of nationalintegration
Does no one remember the Indian contribution toTechnology?
.
* As an interesting exercise, google for “Mehrauli Pillar”, “Iron Pillar” and “Chandragupta Pillar” - the results will speak for themselves.
Further Reading:
A review of “Delhi Iron Pillar: New Insights. Balasubramaniam, R. ”
On the astronomical significance of the Delhi iron pillarby R. Balasubramaniam and Meera I. Dass
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October 22nd, 2007
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Ancient Indian History, Distortions, Misrepresentations about India, Impact of Islam on India, Medieval Indian History, Post Independence History, Science & Mathematics in Ancient India, Technology in India |
4 comments
Dear Readers,
I am moving several comments on the Turkey and Secularism post here due to the fact that they are more to do with Hinduism and discrimination and less with the subject of the original post.
Please continue this discussion on this thread.
Thanks
*** COMMENTS BEGIN ***
1. Patriot, on October 8th, 2007
There is this whole positioning about Hinduism (excuse me, VCK) being such a tolerant religion, which has not imposed its faith on others.
I really, really want to question this:
Keep Reading…
October 9th, 2007
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Debates & Discussions, Distortions, Misrepresentation about Hinduism, Distortions, Misrepresentations about India, Hindu Dharma, Hindu Social System, Medieval Indian History, Sanatana Dharma, Women in Hinduism & India |
117 comments
and my inferences are based on...
